If INT rate isn't intrinsic to the passer then I wonder how you explain Brett Favre, the leading all-time INT record for QBs in NFL history. But then, what do I know, I'm just a real estate broker, and not a sports stat guru (my site: http://www.mswoods.com/ )

5:28 pm November 2, 2011

Mark wrote:

Terrible artice. It appears as if you are jealous of the 49ers, and Alex's success this season.

6:49 pm November 2, 2011

chimpanzee wrote:

can you tell me why every article about alex smith has to be about him doing something bad or he's not contributing to the team. This year he may not be throwing as much, but he isn't doing anything to hurt the team, which i thought to be the biggest role of quarterbacks. I mean drew brees threw what 4 picks and people blame the tam in geneeral and label it as brees having on e bad game. So please explain to me why writiers like causing trouble in the sporting community and please don't say its because that's the job of a writer.

7:43 pm November 2, 2011

stunned wrote:

Really? Honestly? C'mon man!!

Alex Smith gets measured by a different metric than other guys because you don;t like him or the 9ers or whatever your beef is? How about we go back and look at the years when Davis and Crabs were in the top ten in the league in DROPS - you know like Crabs is AGAIN this year. What does that count for??

How about how HORRIBLE the 9ers Oline was last year and weeks 1-3 of this year.
It;s a team game bubba. There are tones of things that go into success for every player. The bottom line is, Smith protecting the ball, making good decisions and helping the TEAM win the game.

I await your article about how Philip Rivers' league leading INT numbers are the reason the Chargers stink right now...!

8:19 pm November 2, 2011

Mark wrote:

Stunned, I agree with everything you said. Sacks are certianly not entirely a QB's fault. How about all the sacks Roethlisberger has taken this year. Does that factor into his degradation as a QB? Additionally, you make the argument that he cannot get the lead early. How about the Cowboys game, how about the Bucs game, how about the Browns game. C'mon man, find a more insightful topic to discuss. Alex Smith had the 3rd best QBR rating last week as well, if you weren't already aware. Pitiful.

9:22 pm November 2, 2011

Good Comments, Horrible article wrote:

I must agree with all the other comments. Horrible article, I can't see the writer actually understanding anything about any sports, but most certainly not football. Simplistic analysis, fallacy upon fallacy, and extrapolation at it's worst. To be fair, I am a 49er fan and have always thought Alex could be a good QB under a good system, so perhaps this is the bias speaking. That being said, I think Stunned put it best when he said C'mon Man!!

10:36 pm November 2, 2011

Proof Is In The Pudding. wrote:

49ers are 6-1. They beat the un-defeated Lions, they showed a relentless defense in the Philly game and beat a Cincinatti team which is ranked high in defense right now. By the way, this was not done to all kicking, TD's were thrown & big run plays thanks to OLine. Keep on with the negative articles.

11:01 pm November 2, 2011

Phil wrote:

The funny thing to me that stands out about your article is the QB rating system that is mentioned is the same system used on ALL!!! QB's in the league but the only one that the numbers were crunched on was Alex Smith. I realize the article is about Alex but if you ran the same numbers and took the same into considoration as you did with Alex, I'm sure some of the other top QB's would'nt be ranked as high as well. I realize it's hard to believe that the 49ers are doing well this year but what you might need to do before wasting so much time by writing a meaningless article is watch a 49ers game without being Bias to your favorite team or QB and see the difference yourself. I personally think your jealous that Alex Smith's TD to INT ratio is better than your favorite QB and he has scored more fantasy points than any of you fantasy QB's!

12:32 am November 3, 2011

Phil #2 wrote:

Carl, anyone who has actually watched the games would realize that Smith gets the ball out fast - fast enough to where the Bucs were complaining about it during the game. The announcers always comment on his quick delivery. I've watched every snap of every game, and rarely do I hear "He's gotta get that ball out" in relationship to a sack.

Fail all the way around.

5:13 am November 3, 2011

A.N. wrote:

this article is a joke. alex smith hasn't improved??? the whole point of your problem with Smith is his sack rate? that he's holding the ball too long? hey genius the 49ers run a west coast offense that is dependent on quick patterns and 3 step drops. smith's been getting rid of the ball fast all this season. smith's sack numbers were inflated during the first 3 games of the season while the offensive line was experiencing MAJOR issues. alex was being dropped, gore was averaging about 2 yards a run. for the last several games the 49ers have figured out their o-line problems and smith hasn't been sacked much. so sorry WRONG answer. try watching the games next time before you write a nationally printed article.

5:26 am November 3, 2011

bentley wrote:

nobody seems to be liking you right now carl. i think you're way out of date..... the whole alex smith hating game ended last season man, people are actually believing in and impressed with that dude right now. he sure has surprised me and maybe alot of his fans. he and his team look good. he might not look perfect, but who the hell is !!!!???!!!??!!? and by the way not throwing interceptions is a GOOOOOOOOOOOOOD thing !!!! hahaha...... advice to carl : write using your own mind and the heart of others, and welcome to 2011 where anybody can be loved even alex smith

5:30 am November 3, 2011

A.N. wrote:

one other thing: interceptions bear little correlation with the ability of a qb but sacks do??? and a 63% completion rate isn't good??? trust the wall street journal to get a bunch of stats and percentages from a guy who obviously hasn't watched any of the games, and has no idea about the actual sport of football. fits in perfectly with all their brilliant news and stock analysis. it's brilliant number punchers like this that gave us the financial crisis...

5:47 am November 3, 2011

DVD wrote:

In 2010 Aaron Rodgers was sacked 31 times for a total yards loss of 193 compared to Smith's 25 sacks for 140 yards loss... what a terrible terrible QB Aaron Rodgers must be.

9:17 am November 3, 2011

Anonymous wrote:

Still not sold on Alex Smith being a legit QB in regards to a playoff leader. While he may have improved slightly, it's more on the defensive side of the ball this year and the run game that's propelled the 49er's to the top. Granted, Smith is indeed playing like one of the better QBs of the year this year but I'm not jumping on the bandwagon for him anytime soon.

5:44 pm November 3, 2011

tkamB wrote:

If you're going to make a statement that he is "holding the ball too long" I suggest you prove it. According to football outsiders the Niners had taken the most short sacks defined as sacks under 2.5 sacks in the league (8) and fewer than average long sacks (2). Which means most of the sacks are missed protections and should be put on the o-line. Granted this was 3 weeks ago but we've only played 3 games since then and hes taken 3 sacks and I know for sure one of those, the sack fumble in the Lions game, was a short sack.

6:12 pm November 3, 2011

tkamB wrote:

Meant to say 2.5 seconds on short sacks and long sacks are over 3 seconds.

12:08 am November 4, 2011

JK wrote:

Carl, sorry to interrupt, but you should watch the games before you write about them. Ok, you can go back to staring at your numbers now.

1:16 am December 17, 2011

beez wrote:

That's funny, because last year when he was throwing INTs due to stone hands and tipped balls, everyone was crying how it was all his fault. Now that the INTs are low it's all luck LOL.

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